THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN aUIDE. 117 



renewed from time to time ; and thus sheltered from all hurtful 

 atmospheric influences they develop in perfection their splendid 

 flowers, the duration of which is prolonged by means of shading. 



The herbaceous Pseonies succeed in nearly all soils having suffi- 

 cient depth for their strong roots. They have the advantage of 

 flowering after the Tree PsBonies, so that the flowering season may 

 be prolonged from the beginning of May to the end of June, 



All Paeonies love water, and principally the herbaceous sorts, 

 which ought not to lack it, not only from the moment when the 

 flower buds commence to form till they have perfected their flowers, 

 but also from the beginning of August, continuing until the rains of 

 autumn, to favour the production at the base of the stem of strong 

 eyes, capable of yielding vigorous flowers in the following season. 

 To secure the flowering of Pseonies in full perfection, it is essential 

 to place them in very open positions, but where they may not receive 

 the sun during the hottest part of the day. 



"When masses of the herbaceous Pseonies have become strong, 

 and the ground has been exhausted by them, it is indispensable to 

 take them up and separate them, preserving for planting portions 

 having two or three strong roots, and the eyes well fed, and then to 

 change their position; this operation should take place every six, 

 eight, or ten years. As a general rule, when the flowers become few 

 and diminish in size, the roots should be transferred to fresh soil. 

 In the case of certain varieties it is beneficial, when the young stems 

 are rising in spring, to take away the weakest, leaving only those 

 which are more vigorous. 



The multiplication of Chinese Paeonies is easy. All of tbem may 

 be increased by division. However, as the tree varieties grow slowly, 

 and one would have to wait many years for the tufts to be strong 

 enough to be divided, it is found better to propagate these by graft- 

 ing. To this end, strong roots of herbaceous varieties are procured ; 

 these are kept growing, and then grafted, a branch with one or more 

 buds being inserted upon the side of the root. The grafted roots are 

 put under bell-glasses or in frames, placed by preference in a north 

 aspect, and the grafts soon become united, and commence to grow 

 promptly, producing roots for themselves. The grafting is performed 

 from the middle of July to the middle of September. 



Few raisers of seedlings take this genus in hand, because it 

 requires so much space to grow the large number it is necessary to 

 plant out, in order to have a fair prospect of gaining some remark- 

 able novelties, and it is besides necessary to wait for their flowering 

 for seven, nine, or ten years, and even more in the case of the Tree 

 Paaonies. However, MM. Guerin-Modeste, Verdier Pere, Mathieu, 

 and Lemon, of Paris ; Thomas, of St. Denis ; Hiss, of Versailles ; 

 Callot, of Douai ; Parmentier, of Enghien, and several others, among 

 whom the Italian growers must be especially mentioned, have 

 obtained many new Tree Paeonies as well as herbaceous varieties, 

 magnificent sorts not yet distributed. To these must be added those 

 introduced direct from China by Mr. Fortune. Several of these 

 varieties of Tree Paeonies remain as yet without equal in respect to 

 the regularity of their form and the beauty of their colours. 



